Shatial

Shatial

Shown within Karakoram
Location	Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Coordinates	35°31′37″N 73°32′36″E / 35.52694°N 73.54333°E / 35.52694; 73.54333Coordinates: 35°31′37″N 73°32′36″E / 35.52694°N 73.54333°E / 35.52694; 73.54333

Shatial is a transit station with archaeological significance on Karakoram Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

Shatial is an important transit station consisting mainly of shops, rest places, and sarais. It is located 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Chilas in the upper Indus Valley beside the Indus River in Gilgit-Baltistan. Historically it acted as a junction of old routes and byways connecting Swat Valley, Gilgit, Chilas, and Chitral.

As a historical crossroads, many traders, Buddhist missionaries, Sogdian merchants, and pilgrims passed through Shatial leaving behind graffiti and inscriptions on the rocks. More than 1000 inscriptions and 700 petroglyphs can be found at the Shatial bridge on the Indus river. Iranian merchants left behind over 550 inscriptions dating from third to seventh centuries in the Sogdian language, nine in the extinct Bactrian language, and two in Middle Persian and Parthian each. Many of these inscriptions are short, consisting of just the names of the travelers, though in some cases names of two or more family members are also mentioned. Many inscriptions also mention a date, possibly of arrival, but it is unknown whether this refers to the date or year of journey. Nanaivandak, a famous merchant from Samarkand who is a subject in Susan Whitfield's book Life Along the Silk Road, wrote the longest such inscription reading:

Nanai-vandak, the (son of) Narisaf, came on (here) the tenth and have requested the favor from the soul of the holy place Kart (that) I reach Kharvandan very fast and see (my) dear brother in good (health).